A jumble of classifications of Celtic

[Fisherking]

And now back to the Celts.

It might help if we knew just where the other Celtic languages were spoken.

Koch in his earlier books and in his translations attests to their existence.

Saying that the peoples of Central Europe were all Germanic or Raetic have larger problems.

Proto Germanic contained a large number of Celtic loan words but at least a third of the language was of Non Indo-European origins. Germanic languages also have different sounds not common to other Indo-European languages. The commonalities between Veneti and Germanic are not very strong. It is a poorly documented language and only the words and cases for one’s self are akin to German but just as akin to Latin. Since inscriptions and coins have a lot to do with kings and rulers these would be readily noticeable in inscriptions. You may cite Gothic for king but before you do, that was a Celtic loan in its form.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This quote is only from Wikipedia, but I thought you might find it interesting:

Loans into Proto-Germanic from other Indo-European languages can be relatively dated by how well they conform to Germanic sound laws. Since the dates of borrowings and sound laws are not precisely known, using the loans for absolute, or calendar, chronology would be impossible.

Most loans from Celtic appear to have been made before or during the Germanic Sound Shift.[15] For instance, one specimen *rīks 'ruler' was borrowed from Celtic *rīxs 'king' (stem *rīg-), with g → k.[16] It is clearly not native because PIE *ē → ī is not typical of Germanic but is a feature of Celtic languages. Another is *walhaz "foreigner; Celt" from the Celtic tribal name Volcae with k → h and o → a. Other likely Celtic loans include *ambahtaz 'servant', *brunjǭ 'mailshirt', *gīslaz 'hostage', *īsarną 'iron', *lēkijaz 'healer', *laudą 'lead', *Rīnaz 'Rhine', and *tūnaz, tūną 'fortified enclosure'.[17] These loans would likely have been borrowed during the Celtic Hallstatt and early La Tène cultures when the Celts dominated central Europe, although the period spanned several centuries.

Raetic was also a Non Indo-European language, kin to Etruscan but it showed very strong influences from Illyrian and Celtic, more from Celtic. At one point it was thought to be a bridge language between the two.

For languages to contain enough loan words to produce confusion it must also show that they were in contact with people who spoke the language it was barrowed from. It must mean that all these people were in close contact with Celtic speaking peoples.

I hope that Koch and others did not bring up the Pan-Illyrian theory. That was long ago disproved. Also Illyrian names show a strong influence from the Celts. A clear majority of names left in inscriptions derive from Celtic with lesser numbers deriving from Thracian and Greek.

Now we have someone speaking a language and leaving inscriptions that are looking very Celtic. This language is influencing people on all sides, far and near. We have dynamic cultures in the same area. We have people recording these people as Celts and Gauls. But now we are supposed to believe that the only Celts are parking their rear ends in Spain or have sailed on to Ireland and Britain.

Just how did all those people in Central Europe end up with those loanwords? Not PIE because that is just too coincidental, especially for the Germans who may have had very good Non Indo-European alternatives, some of which showed up in other variants of their language.

Who knows, maybe German would have been completely Non Indo-European with out the Celtic influence.

Now the issue of Germanics as the Hallstatt and La Téne cultures. I will not go into everything invented by these cultures but they were revolutionary in many areas. The one thing I will focus on is the use of metal plows. They made them. At least one was found in bronze and the remains of some in iron have been found in Central Europe and southern Scotland. Roman laws in Gaul and Britain effectively prevented there use. Until they were discovered it was thought that the metal plow was invented in China circa 450 AD.

Much of Classical Civilization was lost after the German migrations and the fall of Rome. If it had been the Germans who built and nourished these two cultures is it not safe to assume that they would have continued to practice the culture?

After these events we have no La Téne art, we have no iron plows, all construction including fortifications are done in timber. If the Germans were the founders of these cultures then why such a great leap backwards?

I do not find it so very unlikely that Celts reached the British Isles from Spain. There is more than enough evidence of Irish contact with Spain for me to say that. What I do find unacceptable is the notion that it was the origin of the language and that there is any lack of evidence in Hallstatt and La Téne being Celtic cultures.